Aug 14, 2026 11:28 am IST

Opinion | Nanded Attack: Sukhbir Badal And The Past That Still Haunts Him, 11 Years Later

Badal has now faced two serious physical attacks at Sikh religious places in less than two years. Is religious atonement enough for political forgiveness?

Ravinder Singh Robin Ravinder Singh Robin Columnist

Ravinder Singh Robin Columnist

The attack on Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal in Nanded has once again raised serious concerns about his security. But it has also brought an older political question back into focus: more than a decade after the sacrilege crisis of 2015, how much of the trust deficit between the Akali leadership and sections of the Sikh community has actually been repaired?

The two questions should not be confused.

There is, at this stage, no evidence to establish that the Nanded attack was connected to the political or religious controversies that have followed Badal for years. The motive must come from the police investigation, not political speculation. Indeed, police sources have said that the arrested man, Jaspal Singh, claimed he acted in the "spur of the moment", while initial indications suggested he may have acted alone. Investigators are still examining why the attack took place at all.

Yet, the absence of an established political motive does not make the wider political context irrelevant. Badal has now faced two serious physical attacks at Sikh religious places in less than two years. Not only that, but just weeks before the Nanded incident, a video circulated on social media showing a Sikh man sharply confronting him at Delhi airport and questioning his leadership.

None of these incidents can be treated as a survey of Sikh public opinion. But they have occurred against a continuing debate over whether Badal's political rehabilitation has moved faster than his reconciliation with sections of the Panthic constituency.

That is the larger story.

Badal was attacked on August 13 when he was visiting Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan Ji in Nanded, Maharashtra. He suffered an injury to his hand when an assailant attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. A member of his security detail was also injured........

© NDTV